We are currently in the throes of very off-putting moments in the history of Cameroon. This is because what started just over one year ago as benign recrimination against the Biya regime, relating to perceived marginalization and alienation of Anglophones by teachers and lawyers, has wittingly or unwittingly morphed into mutual savagery!

This criminal disregard for the sacrosanctity of human lives has begun reaching very dreadful proportions. To that extent, Cameroon has lost its allure of peaceful oasis in a Central African desert that has been perpetually at war with itself, ever since negotiations collapsed between Government and aggrieved Anglophones on account of surreptitious supplanting of leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium to Yaounde and their eventual incarceration for seven months, which circumstance forced some of them to flee into exile.

In their absence, therefore, the lack of effective and efficient coordination of the Anglophone vision for a more transparent and accountable governance that ensued has disposed inhabitants of the Southwest and Northwest Regions to reliance on a utopian elixir derivable from a yet to be established Ambazonia Republic. This rather puerile attraction to propaganda spewed by exuberant Diaspora youths has, in any case, been fuelled by the regime’s espousal of the delusion that lousy proclamation of state authority and ruthlessness in quelling protests is what is needed in these trying times. The lacklustre disposition of elected and appointed high-ranking Anglophones, who in any case, have been disavowed by their kinsfolk and, by that token, lost legitimacy to represent their interest, has not been helpful in charting a conciliatory course for the now incensed youths.

In the event, unwary observers could not have conjectured that we would find ourselves in circumstances akin to the early 1960’s in East Cameroon wherein traveling to certain areas of the country was analogous to executing a project with its sidekick of carrying on board design and feasibility studies right up to monitoring and evaluation. The horrors that used to adorn Bamileke and Bassa land are still with us. From the killing of gendarmes in the Northwest Region in the wake of the September 22 and October 1, 2017 clashes between soldiers and protesting youths during which many civilians are alleged to have been felled by live bullets, to the vengeful and gruesome murder of soldiers and policemen in Manyu Division, we have been witnessing a gradual descent into callousness, and to that extent, implantation of a hate culture that must be halted at all cost and by all means, if we are to avoid the Rwandan experience of 1994. We, at least, have the advantage of hindsight that can be effortlessly gleaned from the Nigeria/Biafra experience and more recently Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Central African Republic.

Indeed, it is unfathomable that travelling to Mbonge Sub-Division and, eventually, Ndian Division has become nightmarish for a people known to be among, if not, the most hospitable Cameroonians. Penultimate Friday, it was the Chief of Ngongo-Bakundu, Ekebe Johannes who was lured by his own subjects out of a colleague’s funeral in Kwakwa, where he was officiating as coordinator, into a gruesome murder actualized by bullets being sprayed into his stomach at close range. Barely a week before that horrendous occurrence, a policeman had been decapitated with only skin holding his neck at a checkpoint in Kombone Bakundu. As if such savagery and despicable decline into psychosis were not mindboggling enough, a soldier driving his family from Mundemba to Kumba was only two days following the murder of Ngongo Chief, pulled out of his car and rough-handled to death in the full glare of his wife and children, by irate youths said to be exhibiting retribution against the destruction and paranoia inflicted on their kinsfolk by marauding soldiers who had invaded their village in the immediate aftermath of the murder of a policeman.

Prior to this obtuse display of superior force and vengeance along the Mbonge/Kumba road, the battlefield had been Manyu Division. Apart from the gruesome murder of soldiers, retaliatory expeditions of the forces of law and order had also, wreaked despicable havoc on mostly innocent and harmless villagers, causing many of the able-bodied persons to flee into the bushes, leaving the dead without indulgence of even a token burial. The same overdrive reaction has been noticed along the Mbonge/Kumba road where no fewer than 10 houses have been burnt – some with the unfortunate repercussion of loss of lives of unwary inhabitants. One is forced to question the correlation between the action of irate youths and the incineration of the abodes of mostly innocent villagers.

Be that as it may, this is not the time to apportion blames. On the contrary, such deleterious circumstances as we are currently experiencing call for very profound introspection. We should search ourselves very, very deeply, and be asking if this were to be the pattern of governance we are anticipating as legacy for our unborn children, how would posterity evaluate us? With this character as guiding principle, we will definitely come to the realization that all what we are killing ourselves for amounts to emptiness. From the Head of State, Paul Biya to the local villager in his native Mvomeka or Erat in heart of Korup Rainforest in Ndian Division, all of us are sojourners on this earth and one day we shall die, and thereafter, be subjected to the inescapable ritual of account rendering to our creator, the Almighty God. If we would have only given some time to this incontrovertible essence of life, no matter the side of the dichotomous divide of Anglophones and regime goons we happen to find ourselves, we would certainly have come to grips with the necessity to tread softly and, invariably spare families the irritant represented in premature deaths.

We are Cameroonians for crying out loud! What has been the stumbling block in having recourse to our customary gathering under shade trees to discuss whatever palaver is affecting the commonwealth? It can, indeed be very ‘pleasurable’ to sit back and watch how the tragedy that has sprung from indiscretion of regime headship and blinkered youths has been wasting the lives of valiant Cameroonians- that is if your close relative has not been hit and killed by a bullet or the coarseness of summary execution by knife cuts. Oh yes, that is the level to which we have degenerated. Regime apologists are so encrusted in their quest to ingratiate themselves to their masters in Yaounde that they forget that some of their actions are not only detrimental to the collective security of the people they are supposed to protect as representatives of the state but more significantly, they run counter to the aspirations of citizens they owe the responsibility of ensuring prevalence of peace and tranquillity that are necessary ingredients for self-actualization.

We are certainly above the lunacy that seems to pervade the national territory. Whether from the aggrieved party or the Government, the killings are getting to a point where a ceasefire has become imperative. Let the powers that be, too, seek the face of God and realize that nobody wins a war against their own people. We are Cameroonians. That is a fact! On the flip side, we cannot side-track the quintessence of our existence because of the myopic view of potential new era to be ushered by some obscure force or organization, notwithstanding the zeal and correctness of our recriminations. As a parting note, too, let those promoting the idea that some inhabitants of this geopolitical expression are more Cameroonian than others rethink their current stance and wear a different mind-set that will conduce to a new Cameroon where peace with justice and progress with stability reign supreme.

The quickening decline in the already dichotomous relationship between Government and Anglophones has brought into being a perilous reign of anarchy in Cameroon. It is either administrators are goading ordinarily innocent citizens into incarceration just so that they turn around and extort money from them in the name of terrorism act, or unarmed youths are being sent to early communion with graveyards on grounds that they had threatened state security. Indeed, the last 12 months have seen all kinds of atrocities being perpetrated on Anglophones all in the name of inviolability of state authority. The carnage of October 1 readily comes to mind. To this must be added the numerous illegal, inhuman detentions on the prodding of unscrupulous administrators who have been crying wolf in order to be accorded extra budgetary allocations to fight invented enemies.

In the most recent of such incursions into lawlessness in the name of fighting Anglophone irredentism, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Government megaphone once again, even if inadvertently, exposed the ineptitude of the system by announcing extra judicial killings and arrests under suspicious circumstances against some youths in the vicinities of Egbekaw, Nsanakang and Bachua-Akagbe in Manyu Division and Bombe in Meme Division. In normal times, this would have occasioned revelry among citizens who would have seen worthy cause for celebration in such acts of chivalry. However, being attuned to Tchiroma’s avowed eschewal of truth; it has instead imbued them with the temptation to posit that his current proclamation has raised some incongruities that require thorough scrutiny from discerning minds. This assertion, in any case is undergirded by the fact that the Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu, SDO, Oum Joseph II had curiously unveiled Government’s plan to carry out extra judicial killings in Manyu Division, so as to justify the existence of terrorists in that vicinity.

Remember that that some villages had been instructed to evacuate to God knows where new locations. One of such villages is Egbekaw in the heart of Mamfe town. Is it not strange that the alleged recruitment officer of the secessionist army was in Bachou-Akagbe, much more inland rather than around the borders in Ekok, where he is supposed to have been shepherding recruits into training camps? Moreover, Tchiroma’s narrative of alleged gunfire exchange during which five terrorists are supposed to have been killed, and two others escaped, smacks of brazen retail of tall stories from the figment of his imagination. If our soldiers were truly as valiant as Tchiroma’s spin insinuates, would they be in the comfort of Mamfe and its vicinity arresting innocent youths instead of moving closer to the borders with Nigeria where the secessionist army is supposed to be stationed.

Please, Mr. Minister, cut that crap! Your audience is certainly not constituted by imbeciles who would swallow hook, line and sinker whatever garbage you spew. The majority has been imbued with huge senses of discernment from experience and training, and by this token, they shall not easily fall prey to the yarn you are spinning. Eye witness accounts relate that on the night of the occurrence of the alleged incidents of attacks by terrorists, vehicles plying Kumba/Bamenda via Bachou Ntai were all sent back to restart their journey from Kumba and either continue through Loum or Bekoko. In the thick of darkness, the acts of cowardice were concretized and put on sale for public consumption.

Nevertheless, there is consolation in the fact that the army command has come to the realization that prosecuting a war is not as easy as declaring it. Entering into bushes in the backyards of supposed enemies is as risky as opening your chest at close range for bullets to be pumped in.

As if to confirm the assertion that the Anglophone crisis has heralded an unsolicited free for all in terms of making the best of a bad situation, particularly, those who feel most threatened by imminent change in the status quo, the drama that has been entertaining Cameroonians from the National Assembly has bespoken the levity with which governance is handled in the country. At the outset, the impression was that we still had some serious minded individuals in Cameroon who would have shunned party discipline claptrap and seized the opportunity to bring much craved for solution to the Anglophone crisis. No! Cavaye, the coward would not allow the issue to be part of the session’s agenda, clearly exposing the asphyxiation of the legislative wing of Government by the executive. The question that readily comes to mind is whether we needed to have reduced ourselves to such objects of amusement to the international community all in the name of party discipline.

Oh yes, Prime Minister Yang Philemon too, would have wanted the world to believe that all is well in Cameroon with all the noise that was on, while he was reading Government policy statement to the National Assembly. While not subscribing entirely to the rowdy conduct of SDF MPs, the impression is that they might have resorted to this ordinarily puerile approach for want of a better alternative to express discomfiture against brigands who have raised disregard for humanity to governance credo.

Oh yes, they had not received marching orders from their Methuselah President of the Republic and since they have no brains to think for themselves, they had to accommodate the childish but necessary disruption of sovereign business by the SDF parliamentary group. Even the emergence of ‘vuvuzelas’ in the Assembly had been unable to move the CPDM barons determined to do the masters bidding. And, to cap it all, the bloodletting from the projectile shot by Honourable Ndam Njoya at Richard Wallang was the anti-climax of the session.

In the end, we have sold ourselves to the international community as a bunch of never-do-wells who should attract no serious attention except that we are blessed with unquantifiable mineral resources in terms of types and quality. The disorder will continue unabated, with the ordinary Cameroonian having no one to defend their interest- the assembly having been suffused with CPDM hirelings under the spell of party discipline. Hopefully we shall be in for even more drama in March, given that there are no signs of the Anglophone crisis.

What had begun like an innocuous incursion into the sphere of community support sometime in 2010 has since metamorphosed into full time advocacy against spiteful land grabbing and unscrupulous Government concessions to large- scale plantation promoters and lugging companies. In this regard, from being an ordinary participant in a workshop relating to the quest for free, prior and informed consent of communities faced with agri-business promoters and lugging companies, last March, I have found myself being part of a select team designated to meet the Chinese ambassador to Cameroon to make known our discomfiture regarding the exploitative and sharp practices that have become trendy among his compatriots. From this pedestal, I have automatically become an influential member of the Network of Traditional Rulers for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Cameroon, under whose auspices I have also, been accorded the rare privilege of traveling to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as one of the participants to the African Conference on Land policy that held from November 14- 17, 2017.

The thrust of the conference is, The Africa we want: ‘Achieving socioeconomic transformations through inclusive and equitable access to land by the youths,’ with high premium on creating avenues for youths and women to access land for development. This perception of the conference organizers is premised on the realization that most African governments do not have well thought-out and implemented policies that specifically take on board the interest of women and youths. This, to them, is calamitous, given that farming that is mostly on a subsistence scale in most countries is driven by this category of persons who form no less than 80 percent of the work force needed to sustain Africa’s teeming population. As therapy, the African Land Policy Initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA that has now been transformed into the African Land Policy Centre, organizers of the Conference, had thought it wise to bring together no fewer than 500 persons to brainstorm and by extension, exchange notes and learn from variegated experiences through engagement of the academia, civil society, Governments represented at very high levels and, of course, traditional rulers on whom land is supposed to have been vested by tradition, prior to the advent of colonialism .

Even so, the journey to Addis Ababa had not raised any particular expectation given that, Ethiopia had to my hazy imagination, been engaged in drawn- out civil war against Eritrea, its current western neighbor – the longest in Africa barring that between North and South Sudan. Images of the drought that had caused the whole world to be submerged in sympathy with victims consequent upon millions of deaths and had also, given rise to Bob Geldorf’s groundbreaking initiative to raise money through the famous ‘We are the World’ star-studded musical recording resonated in my sub consciousness.

However, this was not to be the case as the classy Addis Ababa International Airport that has nothing to envy from many European Airports dispelled any misgivings that I might have had about the development strides that have been in motion in the country of Ras Tafari Makonen (aka) Emperor Haile Selasie. From the more than 50 airplanes, mostly carriers with capacity of at least 200 passengers that adorned the hangers, to the meticulously constructed infrastructure and mouthwatering services offered by efficient ground staff, Addis Ababa is owe inspiring right from the airport.

Eilily International Hotel where most of the 50 and counting Traditional Rulers were lodged is barely fifteen minutes from the airport. From its aesthetic configuration to the services provided, our overvalued Yaounde Hilton- the only five-star hotel Cameroon boasts of would in all honesty be relegated to backwater. Granted that Addis Ababa is a 10 million inhabitant city in a 100 million inhabitant country, there is still need for the splendour of the city and its infrastructure, particularly, roads to be fore grounded. The sizes and cleanliness of the streets float the impression that work on them had been carried out by extra –terrestrial beings. Juxtaposed with the UNECA Conference Centre which in itself is a modern architecture marvel and other must-see sights like the palace of the legendary Emperor Haile Selasie, in the heart of the city, the awesomeness of the city takes a different allure to be likened only to some well constructed and planned European cities.

As for take-away from the conference proper, trading ideas with traditional leaders from other parts of Africa left one with the regrettable realization that Francophone sub Saharan Africa and Cameroon in particular, have the least attractive conditions to fulfill the vision of ‘the Africa we want’ in terms of access to land by youths and women. The example from Ghana was shortlisted and eventually proposed as the ideal that other countries must strive to emulate even as its government has been enjoined to scale up existing progress. The commendable example from Ghana materialized in 78 percent of all land being vested in traditional and community custody. This way, Government can only come in to request for land when the need arises, while income accruing from land transactions are shared into three parts- one to the local stool (the chieftaincy institution) part to government and another to the community. This way investors deal directly with local communities instead of the government. Can we contrast this with the land grabbing perpetrated by unscrupulous administrators and complicit chiefs in Cameroon?

Of much interest too, is the fact that Ethiopia is a federation, floating a pronounced devolution of power from the centre to the periphery. While paying allegiance to the Prime Minister in Addis Ababa, the Regional Governors have ample discretional powers that permit them to envision and implement development agendas that require no vetting from the central administration. Patriotism has been elevated to a pedestal where even the pauperized fringe still sees hope in a better tomorrow. The citizens have faith in their country and this must be the result of credible governance emergent from transparency and accountability despite military incursions on two to three occasions to infuse greater stringency in managing the commonwealth by some erring leaders. Unfortunately, in our skies, federation has been disrobed of its glittering qualities and ascribed anathema status by the current regime.

Whether we like it or not, the world is on the move. We will either have to join them as a response to inevitability of change or be constrained to experience the Zimbabwean or Burkinabe patterns and kowtow to prevailing trends.

By the way, could someone remind Aeroports du Cameroun, ADC that the Douala International Airport is an eyesore and greatly needs attention in terms of clearing surroundings of the tar mark and providing air conditioning!

A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. Unfortunately, this admonition that counsels us not to subject what can be done now to procrastination that may eventually lead to avoidable danger diminishes in applicability when directed to governance in Cameroon.

This is to the extent that we have been sitting and watching how the emergence of a time bomb has been panning out without having recourse to tangible solutions that reflect mindsets of true patriots. We have consoled ourselves in the illusion that we have been insulated by cocooning capacity of ill-gotten wealth and disregard for the ordinary Cameroonian.

It could never have occurred to us that the yearnings of a portion of the polity that had begun more than 40 years ago had some basis in reality and so warranted appropriate attention. How could we have cared when we were being carried away by the trappings of intoxicating elixir from power that had been handed down by default? In the event, the necessity to ensure that such newfound helmsman status be used for the good of the commonwealth could not have arisen, given that there was no articulated agenda or manifesto at the time of ascension.

The correlating effect of this combined tragedy and comedy of governance under Ahmadou Ahidjo and, particularly, Paul Biya as represented above, has been, to say the least, traumatizing to Anglophones. In what has now turned out to be obeisance to neo-colonial edicts imposed on La Republique du Cameroun during the tumultuous rivalry between the nationalistic UPC and opportunistic UC, to lead Cameroon into independence, successive regimes have made Anglophone marginalization their governance credo. Which is why, even as far back as the Foumban Conference, French constitutional experts had been assigned the primordial task of ensuring that there was no match between Ahmadou Ahidjo-led La Republique du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons. At Foumban, Ahidjo did not only succeed in planting seeds of discord among Anglophone politicians, but more deprecatingly, the road for the eventual assimilation of West Cameroon had already been traced with all the necessary road signs anticipated. The upshot of this indiscretion was the institutionalization of the one party state and prodded by the ease with which this had been attained; Ahidjo headed for the 1972 political coup d’état, euphemistically ascribed the epithet of referendum.

It is this adherence to the dictates of neo-colonialism that has led to recklessness relating to governance in Cameroon. All is done to ensure that the French have their way in Cameroon in exchange for elongated stay at the pinnacle of power. Surprisingly, the current regime sees more sense in allowing the French to cart away as much of Cameroon’s wealth more possible than barring them from access and thereby making available wherewithal for run-of-the-mill necessities like water, light, food and housing. No, Bollore must have 90 percent shares of CAMRAIL for a period of 30 years. Do not worry what the Government got in exchange for such largesse that borders on lunacy.

Yes, oil from Bakassi must be mortgaged solely, to the French for as many years as only a select clique in the country is entitled to know. Yes, we must allow the same Bollore to control more than 75 percent interest in the management of the Douala Port. Oh yes, we are this daft. Our children do not deserve any future as long as those of the ruling oligarchy have the possibility of lording it over the progeny of currently less privileged Cameroonians. They had risen from children of paupers and peasants to the governing class and by that token became inferior whitemen. With the whiteman’s departure they have automatically become the colonial masters.

However, as God does not allow evil to prevail over good, he slipped the Anglophone component into the boundaries of Cameroon and this has been the enfant terrible of successive regimes in La Republique. While admitting that Francophone culture disposes them to containment of excesses from ruthless regimes, the fact that the Anglophone component of the country, although indubitably in the minority, has been taking the lead in demanding more humane governance should have effected a change in mentality among the former much earlier than now. However, as the saying commonly goes, it is better late than never. And so, many Francophones are now in the fray to denounce not only poor governance but the unfathomable alienation being perpetrated against their own kind. With the resoluteness that has all along accompanied the quest for emancipation by Anglophones, Francophones have sighted in the former, viable and valiant partners in the project to effect a change in governance in the country.

This explains why despite all the brutality and barefaced resort to feudalism as governance credo that has sprung from Government, the youths particularly in Anglophone Cameroon have instead been radicalized to the point of daring combat ready soldiers. What began like a joke on October 1 when peace flower wielding youths dared armed-to-the teeth soldiers, is gradually turning into guerilla warfare. The news from Jakiri, Bafut and Bayelle Nkwen are not the least impressionable.

This time it was the turn of soldiers to lose their lives. The circumstances under which these gruesome murders took place are still hazy even as Government megaphone Isa Tchiroma Bakary has been quick to ascribe the heinous occurrence to Anglophone “terrorists of the secessionist” tribe.

While not imputing approval to such dastardly inclination, the fact that Government had shown very little or no sign of remorse relating to the carnage of October 1, must have courted retribution from aggrieved families and concerned Anglophones.

Whatever the situation, the question that has been permanently beckoning like green amber light on traffic is do we really deserve this avoidable mayhem that is now being constantly visited on our kith and kin? Should we be in this muddle to the point where our egos ride roughshod on rationality? It is the hope here that there are still traces of humanity that should cause us to retrace our steps into the right direction. Mr. President Paul Biya, the time for all- embracing dialogue is overdue. Stop this carnage! Whether from innocent soldiers, dying to keep you in power or daring Anglophone youths fighting for the emancipation of their compatriots the number of deaths are already appalling.

Welcome back to our skies, even as you have elected to spend more time on other shores than ours. I am sure that you have taken note of the drastic deficit in enthusiasm to welcome you from your numerous trips abroad. If you have not, be informed that the situation is so bad that sycophant elite from your South Region and other lazybones have had to rise up to the occasion and be drafted in to cajole public attention that people are still interested in your going out and coming in.

Mr. President, we are really worried about your eternal love for puerile indulgence in the luxury of rooms in European and American hotels. This does not only impinge on our lean purse that has been attracting the peering eyes of Bretton Woods institutions, but more disparagingly, you seem not to be making any distinction between private and official visits. While admitting that representing our country at international diplomatic arenas had since graduated into contemporary statecraft requiring every sovereign nation to have representations in as many countries as possible, and why not international organizations, such emissaries, including you, not surprisingly, represent your interests instead of Cameroon’s. Mr. President, our concern here is the seeming lack of direct involvement you have brought to bear on Governance in Cameroon via your one too many foreign escapades.

Which is why, you, as the number one of everything Cameroonian; from Head of state to Head of lives, you appoint ambassadors to countries you deem friendly enough to perpetrate your visceral inclination to power even when prevailing circumstances, indubitably, indicate disavowal by the citizenry? This ordinarily offensive disposition has, unfortunately, been heightened by a peculiar feature in your statesmanship that impels almost permanent incursions into the jurisdiction of diplomatic appointees. This way, you do not only render them uncomfortable, but make governance back at home pernicious and invariably, unproductive. Just imagine your last over 35-day stay in America and Switzerland! Imagine the heebie-jeebies that must have gripped Cameroon’s Ambassador to Switzerland, from being in the knowledge that you, with all your dictatorial proclivities had been in Hotel Continental breathing down his neck daily. That could have been next to hell.

Even more, important decisions that require presidential fiats are being ceaselessly directed to other quarters in the knowledge that you are perpetually not available. What is even more derisive in your demeanor is not just the fact that you spend much time abroad, but that such marathon sojourns have hardly borne useful fruits for the commonwealth. Framed in exorbitant hotel bills that your hirelings inflate to line their pockets and hired praise singers at home and abroad, your foreign trips constitute inexcusable drain on Cameroon’s economy whose insolvency is causing sleepless nights to financial experts locally and internationally. Since the centerpiece of your diplomacy is to be seen and heard even when what you say has nothing to inspire in relation to contemporary world power play, you carry your delirious self about oblivious of your frail physique barely supporting your 84 years.

In the event, it had to take the planned stop-over of the UN Secretary General on Cameroonian soil to chase you out of Switzerland. This puerile affinity for the ephemeral instead of awe-inspiring accomplishments like the Bakassi “Green Tree Accord,” unequivocally lends credence to hues from badmouths associating you with occult practices that immunize against concern for humanity. To this effect, while you were on the podium addressing a visibly empty auditorium at the United Nations Plaza in New York, Anglophone Cameroonians in the most spontaneous, simultaneous and intensified display of discomfiture over a system that had raised bestiality to sainthood, exposed your anachronistic, nay, sadistic statecraft to the world via peaceful protests back at home last September 22. As peaceful as the demonstrators had endeavoured to carry out their enterprise, regime toadies with atrophied notions of peace keeping still snuffed lives out of many. As counterpoise and in retaliation against what they had seen as betrayal of their long guarded secret employed to extort security budgets from state coffers, your apologists pounced on the opportunity to steal from, kill maim and rape with glee on October 1. On a Sunday for that matter! Yes, the September 22 riots had exposed unscrupulous administrators to you and the world that agitations from Anglophones have not been a matter of a few misguided elements. They are emanations from pent-up frustrations.

For 35 days you enjoyed the comfort of hotels in foreign lands while your country was boiling and heading for Armageddon. Yes, after the despicable carnage of October 1, massive arrests, looting, maiming, and unwarranted public provocations have been the lot of Anglophone Cameroonians. To this moment, many inhabitants particularly the youths of many towns in Anglophone Cameroon still endure the pangs of life in virgin forests occasioned by fear of being victims of programmed arrests and slaughter. Indeed, no fewer than 1000 youths are in detention in various parts of the Northwest and Southwest Regions. Apart from the atrocious conditions of detention, magistrates, both civilian and military have struck a gold mine in detainees from whom they extort money ranging from FCFA 25,000 to one million. Indeed, the issue of irregular detention has become favourite pastime for law enforcement agents who swindle each other just so that control over victims remains within their jurisdictions. Police, like magistrates, like prosecutors are all in the fray. Yet neither you nor any of the elected or appointed political elite from the Anglophone Regions has been bold enough to deprecate such carnage as had been unleashed on their kith and kin.

However, in their moronic acquiescence to anything you incarnate, they have found themselves saddled with the ungodly task of having to carry so called goodwill messages from you, who all along, have been making derisive utterances to their persons and shown no concern for their plight. The messengers themselves had since been disavowed, consequent upon overtly displayed repudiation of the Anglophone cause. Who then had they been intending to address? As naïve as they are, they had forgotten about the African wise saying that counsels us to be nice to people along the road because we might one day be in need of their assistance. Surprisingly, Senator Pa Achidi Achu had not reminded them of his famous “scratch my back I scratch your own” political scam. These are very unpromising moments. While Musonge was preaching the indivisibility of Cameroon on the slopes of Mount Fako, Philemon Yang was telling whoever had cared to listen that you could not have been stampeded out of the comfort of Unity Palace in Yaounde to personally come to Buea and Bamenda and soothe the gaping wounds of Anglophone wretchedness. Musonge even proclaimed from his house in Buea that Southwesters are against secession! If he were to really mean what he said, his advice to you ought to be directed to a referendum that would allow the voice of the majority to prevail.

Whether you pretend not to know the truth, or not, one thing is certain and it is the fact that current occurrences in the country have exposed the depth of Anglophone despondence in a system that reserves no hope for them. The teams sent out with your so called goodwill message of peace, by their composition mandate and scornful reaction to their presence in the various localities visited are very telling of the abysmal illegitimacy that surrounds you and the remnant of what can be termed governing class in Cameroon. However, being essentially progenies of a species with integrity and humanity, we are still willing to give you benefit of doubt opportunity to redeem your erstwhile iniquities and this can only be done by sober reflection, devoid of any triumphalist posturing. It is obvious that the likes of Okalia Biali, Rene Sadi and Beti Asomo will be telling you that the situation is under control. No way! Mr. President, what they have planted is a ticking bomb that has no specified time to explode. And when this happens, there will be no Cameroon to run to because all what the current generation has worked for would have gone into ruins.

Considering the above scenario, which to all intents and purposes is very unpromising, you are hereby called upon to heed to this clarion call of convening a nation-wide meeting of all Cameroonians. This means that participation has to be as inclusive as there are interest groups. This exercise ought to have preceded the buffoonery that has just ended in the name of carrying goodwill message of peace to the various sub Divisions. Representations should be based not only on population but on it and the principle of contribution to the state budget. This way, the form of state and resource allocation based on derivation will come on board and a compromise reached on how to determine the form of state. Do not forget that the discussion ought to be between aggrieved Anglophones and a recalcitrant Government and not Anglophones and Francophones. This way we can begin envisioning the advent of a new Cameroon where fear and suspicion would have been consigned to dustbins. But before this, you must have ensured that all those responsible for the carnage of September 22 and October 1 are brought to book to face retribution. Over to you Mr. Biya!!!

By Ngoko Monyadowa

http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png00Asonganyi Nesterhttp://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.pngAsonganyi Nester2017-11-02 09:45:262017-11-02 09:45:26Letter of love to President Biya